Hi everyone! My name is Caroline Graham. I am a sophomore majoring in Mechanical Engineering and doing the Engineering Design minor. I love to travel, hike, and try new foods. At Rice, I am involved in Rice Women’s Club Lacrosse, Society of Women Engineers, and Owls for Christ. I also love being involved in my residential college, Will Rice, from everything to Intramural Sports to advising for Orientation Week. 

                    Me in Tokyo

This past summer, I participated in the iSEED program, where I spent five weeks in Tokyo learning all about Japan’s unique culture and engineering designs. As a part of the EDES 200 and EDES 301 classes, we spent the last week creating a device that improved individuals’ daily lives. My team of three created a smart cart called CLING-E that follows users around, sensing direction and distance of the user from their automatic IR emitter that they wear. We originally intended for it to be used to carry luggage through the airport, but recognize that its uses can be expanded to improve convenience and accessibility for many different users. I was proud of how our interdisciplinary team came together to use our strengths and integrate many different components, including ultrasonic sensors, infrared sensors, an RFID, an accelerometer, and MAX7219 Modules. It was really neat to bring our idea to life in just a week and apply the components we learned about the week prior.

      Team Onigiri with CLING-E

One thing that I want to make this semester is Christmas gifts for my parents. I don’t know what I want them to be yet, but I’m hoping to be inspired by assignments in this course. Last year, I laser cut ornaments, so I hope to take it up a notch. I am also interested in looking into making something to automatically open my dorm door.

One thing I hope to learn in EDES 210 is more about the CNC machine. I haven’t used it before and find it intimidating from the limited knowledge I have of it. Overall, I look forward to improving my proficiency with lots of the equipment in the OEDK and creating many cool things!